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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 2015)
City Beat — 5A School Zone — 10A Faith Page — 8A Kennedy's coaching legacy Longtime hoops coach to hang it up after fi ve decades, page 1B $ PUUBHF ( SPWF 4 FOUJOFM WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2015 SOUTH LANE COUNTY'S MOST AWARD-WINNING NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1889 VOLUME 126 • NUMBER 35 Council holds hearing on Main Street Refi nement Plan Also Close to 20 citizens weigh in; public hearing extended BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel M uch has already been said of Cot- tage Grove’s Main Street Refi ne- ment Plan, a document that aims to guide the construction of a new Main Street corridor between its historic buildings. And much more would be said Monday evening during a public hearing before the City Council, which heard impas- sioned opinion on many of the key as- pects of the plan before ultimately decid- ing to allow the public a little more time to weigh in. The Refi nement Plan includes recom- mendations for a complete redesign of Main Street between River Road and Highway 99 and on some side streets. The City of Cottage Grove’s Planning Department has stated goals for the plan of reducing the “crown” or pronounced hump of Main Street itself; fi xing dam- aged sidewalks; improving access for those with disabilities and adding outside utilities in the area. Grant funding has been used to hire an outside consultant to aid the planning process, which has now included several public meetings and hours of testimony. The plan came to the Council after it was recommended for adoption by Cottage Grove’s Planning width of travel lanes and whether bike lanes would be feasible. Dupuy stated that Main Street’s 16-foot width is much wider than comparable streets. He said studies show that wider lanes increase speeds, safe crossing dis- tances and the severity of auto accidents. He said 10-11 foot travel lanes are rec- ommended for streets such as Main. Dupey said there isn’t much room to include bike lanes in Main Street’s 65- foot right-of-way, adding that an alterna- tive route for bike traffi c is being sought and the plan includes “sharrows” that indicate bicyclists and motorists should share the roadway. Commission after the Commission’s own public process. Key issues that have dominated dis- cussion of the plan have been the fate of the current trees on Main Street, a plan to widen the sidewalks and reduce the width of travel lanes from 16 to 12 feet and whether or not to include bike lanes in the plan. These issues again held sway Monday night, when close to 20 commu- nity members including downtown busi- ness owners addressed the Council to air their concerns. Before the hearing, Alex Dupey of the consultant assigned to the Refi nement Plan addressed the process for estimat- ing the project’s $9 or so million price tag, in addition to the plan to reduce the inside: Please see PLAN, Page 10A Local E-cig regulations approved H ELPFUL HABIT Calendar 2015 Several notable events not to be found, page 3A BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel T photo by Jon Stinnett Marie Longfellow donates blood in a mobile bus operated by the Lane Blood Center Monday morning with the assistance of Jodi Stephens. The Center's Raena Wood said that Longfel- low is usually the fi rst to donate at each blood drive in Cottage Grove. Drives are held every eight weeks, the minimum time of eligibility between donations for one person. "Cottage Grove is a powerhouse with donations and volunteers," Wood said. The next drive at the Cottage Grove Community Center will be held Monday, April 20. he Cottage Grove City Council approved an or- dinance Monday night that outlaws the sale of electronic smoking devices to minors, restricts the dis- tribution of free samples of e-cig products and subjects e-cigarette use to the same restrictions of the Clean In- door Air Act that govern other types of smoking. The ordinance also included an amendment that increases the smoke-free zone outside business entrances from 10 to 25 feet. Monday's vote was the second 5-1 tally in favor of the ordinance; the Council previously considered the issue at its Feb. 9 meeting, and each time, Councilor Jake Boone was the lone vote in opposition. Boone said he sought to minimize the infringement of the ordinance on those it is not intended to target. He specifi cally addressed the unintended impact the new e-cig rules could have on users of medical marijuana, referencing practices at the local dispensary where he serves as manager. Between the Council's two discussions on the mat- ter, attorney Carrie Connelly examined revisions to the ordinance sought by Boone, specifi cally exemptions for medical use of e-smoking devices and allowances for the ability of parents to oversee the use of e-ciga- rettes by their minor children. Connelly said their were no "easy changes that could be made" to address many of Boone's concerns, saying that parts of the ordinance could be left to "prosecutorial discretion," or the dis- Taste of Creswell Business showcase draws a crowd, page 6A Please see ORDINANCE, Page 10A Local economic indicators pointing to a strong 2015 BY JON STINNETT The Cottage Grove Sentinel I t’s not always easy to gauge the health of the economy in Cottage Grove, but those in- terested in such local trends say that, while hard and fast stats pointing to an economic recov- ery are hard to come by, anec- dotal evidence certainly show- cases recent progress. Evidence of recovery is am- ple at the state level. Statewide, reports compiled at the end of January by Oregon’s Employ- ment Department show that in November of last year, the number of payroll jobs in the state reached the peak attained in 2007 prior to the economic slowdown. Oregon’s economy added 50,300 jobs last year, the largest November to Novem- ber jobs gain since 1996, and the unemployment rate also dropped in that time frame. The summary of a report on Oregon’s economy by the Of- fi ce of Economic Analysis was also released last week, stating that “with each passing month, it is becoming more evident that the U.S. economy is fi nally emerging from the aftermath of the Great Recession and fi nan- cial crisis.” Job growth is reach- ing near-boom levels, the report stated: The combination of job growth acceleration, solid eco- nomic output and the impact from substantially lower energy prices has the typical economic forecaster more optimistic to- day than any other time in re- cent years.” The report called 2014 a “sur- prisingly solid economic year,” with 2015 expected to be even better. Economic statistics specifi c to the Cottage Grove area, though, can be hard to come by, accord- ing to City Manager Richard Meyers. “The statistics we get are mostly for Lane County as a whole,” Meyers said. “We get the stats and we have to think to ourselves, ‘Is that really our number?’ If we were a big- ger community, those numbers would be there.” Many of these numbers are calculated every two or three years and are thus largely un- reliable in pointing out recent trends. Still, Meyers said there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that showcases a local economic recovery. While there is no sales tax in Oregon that could gauge retail activity, Meyers said the City’s take of hotel room and gas tax receipts indicate a stronger 2014 than the past several years. These receipts are expected to rise during the warmer months, and a bigger-than-average rise could point to more people will- ing to spend their disposable in- come in Cottage Grove. The housing market can also provide a glimpse of the health of the local economy, and activ- ities there appear to be returning to pre-recession levels. “From what I’ve seen, there’s more activity in the market now than there has been in probably the last fi ve years,” said Remax Realtor Ron O’Keefe, who’s plied the local market for 25 years. “Some of that growth is people listing properties be- cause the market keeps getting better, but we’ll see if that trans- lates into sales. People still have to price properties right.” Lane County lost an esti- mated 30 percent of its home values during the recession, but O’Keefe said values are “creep- ing back to near the pre-reces- sion rates.” Historically low in- terest rates also favor an active market, and lenders are starting to do so more frequently. “There’s talk of loans loosen- ing, though nothing like before the recession,” O’Keefe said. “Now, there are more stringent guidelines. We’re also seeing very few foreclosures right now, which is of course positive.” O’Keefe said commercial properties in Cottage Grove are also garnering renewed interest, though he said that the City of Cottage Grove’s Systems Devel- opment Charges, which are lev- ied against developers to cover the added cost of their develop- ments on city infrastructure, are higher than those of comparable communities. Construction of new proper- ties in Cottage Grove is also Rain Country Realty Inc. W NE 1331 Chad Drive Gorgeous clean triple wide in Middlefield Village. 2 bedroom, 2 bath and 2123sqft. IN D N E P G Principal Brokers Teresa Abbott ..................221-1735 Frank Brazell....................953-2407 Lane Hillendahl ................942-6838 1451 Bennett Creek Fixer, fixer, fixer on over 3 acres with Bennett Creek running through it. Several out buildings and pastures. $199,950 Please see ECONOMY, Page 2A Brokers Ron Schneider..................521-8713 Laurie Phillip....................430-0756 Valerie Nash ....................521-1618 $119,000 5DLQ&RXQWU\5HDOW\FRP UDLQFRXQWU\UHDOW\#JPDLOFRP CONTACT US www.cgsentinel.com On the Internet (541) 942-3325 By telephone (541) 942-3328 By fax cgnews@cgsentinel.com By e-mail P.O. Box 35, Cottage Grove, OR 97424 By mail Corner of Sixth and Whiteaker, Cottage Grove In person +Z\ WEATHER CONTENTS HIGH LOW 55 39 Partly Cloudy Licensed in the State of Oregon Calendar....................................... 11B Channel Guide ............................... 6B Classified ads................................. 8B Obituaries....................................... 2A Opinion .......................................... 4A Public Safety .................................. 5A Sports ............................................ 1B 75 CENTS